Question: I joined this software company before a year and was put on a live project immediately. I had to undergo training from one of the team members before i could start working. I looked at this as an opportunity to know more about project. So as i got to know about technology, the team mate started expressing his views about other team members i.e. developers, in how they would pressurize you to work and some other negative aspects. I was sort of concerned now and formed a negative impression about the people on this project. So i made a decision to keep distance with them. Soon it was shocking to see that the team member who told me all these was himself mingling with rest of the team as if all were in good sync. I could not get out of the negative impression i formed initially and so i always felt a bit wary when relating to others. ...
Real stories
The Leadership Lesson Don Learned Unexpectedly
I am honored to introduce another Executive Author, Don Victor, to our candid conversations series. Don is senior executive and currently head of a division of 300 people. Don is a senior executive, and is currently the head of a 300-person division. I am so pleased that he agreed to be an Executive Author for my website. He has over 25 years of experience, and he has so many stories to tell. I look forward to learning from him with you through this candid conversation. ...
How to Re-Negotiate Benefits After Signing an Employment Contract
Question: My current employer had enrolled me for a medical plan that is due to expire in 2 days. I start at my new employment end of this month. According to contract with new employer(the bank) that I have already signed, I will be on probation for first 3 months. Also according to that contract the medical benefits are available only after probation period. I am a family man with two small kids – 3 and 1. As you can imagine there is no way I can consider staying in Hong Kong without medical insurance for technically 3.5 months. ...
How to Return to My Old Employer
Q: I was wondering what may be the best way to approach acknowledging to a previous employer, that you made a mistake leaving your previous job. A year ago, I left a well paying consulting position with a large technology company to pursue another job. Unfortunately, the new job has not met my expectations and I now regret my decision to leave my previous employer. ...
How Gloria Successfully Recovered from Not Getting Promoted
Not getting the promotion we were expecting can be devastating to our self-image. I am here to tell you that you are not alone. In fact, not getting promoted can happen to the best of us. What is important is how you handle this unexpected news and what you do next to keep advancing in your career. ...
Soft Skills: Why Effective Upward Communication is Key to Advancement
We are giving public access to this recording on upward communication to showcase the type of content available in the Soft Skills Gym. For more recordings like this one, sign up today.
Welcome to the first candid conversation with one of our Executive Authors, Louis Johnston. Candid conversations are frank interviews I have with business executives regarding a personal story or some lesson they learned from their career. ...
Soft Skills – Note to Self: Shut Up and Take Action
It is New Year’s Eve day. I am supposed to be happy and excited. Instead I wake up very agitated. My mind is teeming with negative thoughts. I have been sick for two weeks. I feel behind. I feel unaccomplished. I feel tired even though I just got a full night’s sleep.
Then I catch myself. I realize that, because I have not done much for my soft skills blog lately, the voice in my head is scolding me. Negative thoughts fill my mind. I feel deflated. These feelings had been building up for a few days already. I knew I had to do something to break this pattern. Instead of letting my negative thoughts control me, I decided to go for a run and de-stress a little. ...